City Council - Regular Meeting

waiting for. I would imagine she decided to stay for come to this last council meeting to hear what was going on at the library because she plans on coming back and visiting our library. Am I right? She's nodding yes. So we're going to start with we're going to go through June and June 1st is on a Monday so you have all weekend to plan to attend some of these activities at our wonderful library, the best library in the world. Monday, June 1st, 1030 a.m., baby time, 2 p.m., Tween Pokemon Play, and that's also the start of summer reading. June 2nd, 10.30 a.m. Pre-K story time, 6 p.m. Crochet Club, and 6 p.m. also evening story time. Wednesday, June 3rd, 10.30 and 11.30, bilingual story time, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., seven sessions of HMNS Megalodon versus T-Rex. Is it like a cage ring fight? People are going to be dressed up in Megalodon costumes and T-Rex costumes? Oh, okay. Well, hopefully it's changed online so people won't show up looking for a fight between T-Rex and a Megalodon. Thursday, June 4th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m., toddler time, 5.30 p.m., adult craft night. Monday, June 8th, 10.30 a.m., baby time, 2 p.m., tween board games. June 9th, 10.30 a.m., Pre-K Storytime, 6 p.m., Teen Architecture, Wiz Temple of Doom. June 10th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m., Bilingual Storytime, 2 p.m., Firefighter Craft Day. 5 p.m., Tech Night, 3D Printing, VR and Robotics. Thursday, the 11th, 10.30 and 11.30, Toddler Time. And Friday, on the 12th, 10 a.m., Friday Morning Book Club. 11.30 a.m., adult coloring. 10 a.m., the classics club on the Saturday the 13th. The 15th, 10.30 a.m., baby time, 2 p.m., tween hot wheels play. Teens play with hot wheels? Okay. On the 16th, 10.30 a.m., pre-K story time, 6 p.m., Teen Art Night, Dinosaur Skeleton Models. On the 17th, 10.30 a.m., and 11.30 a.m., bilingual story time, 2 p.m., Bubbles and Chalk. On the 18th, 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m., toddler time. On the 19th, 10.30 a.m., tech morning, 3D printing, virtual reality, and robotics for beginners. On the 22nd, 10.30 a.m., baby time, 2 p.m., twin stem airplane launch. 10.30 a.m. on the 23rd, you have 6 p.m., teen dinosaur trivia. On the 24th, At 10.30 and 11.30 a.m., you have bilingual story time. 2 p.m., Public Works Fun Day. Are we going to have people out here filling potholes? What is that about? That's not the plan? But what is it? Okay, good deal. 5 p.m. Tech Night 3D printing and virtual reality on the 25th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m. toddler time, 5.30 p.m., Diamond Dot Earrings. On the 27th, that's Saturday, 1 p.m., Hurricanes Get Ready. 29th, 10.30 a.m., Baby Time. On the 30th, 10.30 a.m., Pre-K Story Time. 6 p.m., Teen Game Night Board Games. And if you want to hear what's going on in July, show back up to our July council meetings and I will do you all the pleasure of reading what's going on at our library. Any questions or comments?

How much are library cards?

I don't know.

They're free.

So if it's free, my motto is, if it's free, give me three. It is 8.12 p.m., and we will recess into and convene an executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code Sections 551.087 to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property and or to deliberate regarding economic development negotiations. They got their lipstick on. I just realized last year that... ...having a sundae at the ice cream shop. Oh, Lord have mercy. Oh, man, that's great. That is good stuff.

Next time we go to karaoke... That's a good Halloween outfit, yeah.

Next time we go to karaoke, I'm requesting that for him. Oh, Lord, have mercy on us. That's wonderful. We're good? Oh, man, let me gather myself.

We still need an attorney. He said we can start with that.

No, we'll wait on him.

Thank you.

I NOW CALL TO ORDER THE JOINT CITY COUNCIL MEETING AND BAYTIME MUNICIPAL DEVELOPED MEETING ON THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2026, AT 6.30 P.M., AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF QUORUM AT 6.56 P.M. WE WILL NOW HAVE THE PLEDGE AND INFORMATION GIVEN BY YOURS TRULY. IF YOU WOULD PLEASE STAND AND JOIN ME. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Please bow your heads. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we come before you with bowed heads and humble hearts. First and foremost, thank you for being who you are and for your son. I'd like to ask that you allow us to do a productive job here today in hearing from our citizens, disseminating information, and making decisions. I also would like to ask that you would protect, lead, guide those who stand in the gap for us, fire, police, our armed forces. I ask that you would also give a moment of comfort and peace to their families as they're out standing in a gap on our behalf. I ask all of these things in your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus, in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Citizen comment. Thank you. We have a few people signed up. So the purpose of citizen comment is to give all interested citizens the right to express their views. Everyone desiring to speak should have either signed the appropriate list in the foyer or emailed the city clerk prior to the posted time of this meeting. Each citizen shall give his or her name and address in order to provide a proper record of these comments. The rules allow each person one minute to speak. A citizen may pass his or her time to the person who has requested to address counsel. However, no citizen remarks shall exceed three minutes in total. Either the one-minute or the three-minute limit may be extended by majority vote of counsel. I encourage everyone to be as brief and to the point as possible. Please keep in mind, counsel cannot discuss or deliberate on items for which public notice has not been given on this agenda. We are going to start with Ms. June Stansky. If you would please state your address for proper record.

GOOD EVENING. 4601 DRIFTWOOD DRIVE, BAYTOWN, TEXAS, 77521. JUNE STANSKY FIRST. WE'VE ALL BEEN SEEING ALL THESE SURVEYS FOR THE IMBEC, AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW EXACTLY ARE THEY GOING TO BE THE TALLIES GOING TO BE TOTALED? ARE THEY GOING TO BE PUBLISHED? WHEN IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN? are they going to actually impact the design of the new facilities, considering we're getting things that look almost complete now. And I think that if you really want citizen input, you need to tally them and not publish things that don't have bathrooms near the doors. Not a good thing. Secondly, the search for the city manager, assistant city manager, was not... broad. It was just a promotion from within. And I don't think that's right. I think positions like that should go before you should have a search for an assistant city manager. And I believe that's my time. I'll be back for another subject.

Thank you. Next we will have Mr. Troy Whiteneck. Please state your address for record.

9946 Bayou Woods Drive, Baytown. $560,000 for the homeless. Jumped to $580,000 to combat the homeless. All that money goes to the police department. Not a nickel of it was earmarked to help the homeless. Baytown has limited resources to house and feed the homeless. Tuesday, I happened to drive by Baytown's animal shelter. You have a really nice facility to house and feed homeless animals. That's not a very good perception that you treat animals better than you treat homeless humans. You really need to think about that. And $580,000 for this? And you couldn't come up with $150,000 to save a bus route? And now you're going to have to kick in, I think, $62,000? And you're not going to save any bus routes with that money? Shame on you.

Thank you. Next, Ms. Desiree Claus. Please state your address.

Yes, my address is 9026 Blue Star Lane, Baytown, Texas, 77521. I wanted to come and talk today about, thank you so much for the listening tours. I really appreciate it as a citizen and a constituent because I'm learning so much, especially at the last one, regarding the homelessness and also the, I guess, the awareness of the homelessness in our community. Based on also the police chief that was there, he mentioned that our crime has gone down, which I thought was amazing, and I'm really glad that that's happening because I think it's super important for our community to know what is actually happening out there versus what is being said on the internet. I just want to remind y'all that this is a very diverse community and it is constantly evolving. And not only is it constantly evolving, but we have an opportunity to really do something great here in this community by helping the homeless because we know that We are all, not we, excuse me, some of us are just a emergency or tragic life event away from becoming a homeless person. There are many people in this community that have that possibility. So I just encourage you all to just listen to the community and to make sure that we are being heard. Is that my time? Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you. There being no one else desiring to speak, this concludes the citizens' comment portion of the agenda. WE ARE NOW ON TO 2A, MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT ITEMS. CONSIDER APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AND CITY COUNCIL JOINT MEETING HELD ON APRIL 23, 2026 AND MAY 14, 2026. I NEED A MOTION.

MOTION TO APPROVE.

SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. On to 3A, 3, 2B, 2B. We're going to go into executive.

It's an MDD item, Mayor. So we need to do it because it also pertains to something later on in the city council agenda as well. That's why it's done like this.

Okay, okay. All right, well, it is now 7.04 p.m. We will recess into and convene an executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code 551.071 to seek the advice of the Municipal Development District General Counsel.

I didn't even have a plate.

I now reconvene our open meeting of the Baytown Municipal Development District at 7.47 p.m. and announce that in accordance with Texas government code, SECTION 551.102, NO ACTION WAS TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE SESSION. WE WILL NOW MOVE ON TO CITY COUNCIL ITEMS. WE'LL BE TAKING ITEMS 3A AND 3B TOGETHER. CONSIDER APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC FORUM FOR EXXON MOBILE BAYTOWN EVENT CENTER DESIGN HELD ON APRIL 16, 2026, AND CONSIDER APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AND CITY COUNCIL REGULAR JOINT MEETING REGULAR JOINT MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT MEETING HELD ON APRIL 23, 2026, AND MAY 14, 2026. I NEED A MOTION.

MOTION TO APPROVE ITEMS 3A AND B.

SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. NOW WE'RE ON TO 4A RECOGNITIONS. PRESENT A PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY. They have me down to talk about this, and I should take this time to read everything that's going on at the library for the past year, but I am not going to do that.

I just want to know, do they all have library cards?

That is a valid question, because when I didn't have mine, everyone has an updated library card, not one that's expired. Okay. Are you all going to bring them up here and show us?

Touche. She's vouching for him.

Touche. The last person in this chamber to get a library card, guess who that was?

The most good-looking. Beautiful page. So, proclamation. Do y'all want to come on up?

Proclamation City of Baytown recognizing the Friends of the Library's 75th anniversary, 75 years. I don't know that I've had a friend for 75 years.

I'm not 75 years old. Yeah.

The only friend I've had in my 48 years is probably going to be my mom and my dad. Whereas the first Friends of the Library was established in Baytown in 1951 to support the Goose Creek branch of the Harris County Library System, and whereas the Friends of the Library instrumental in championing, supporting, The need for an expanded library in 1957 formally organized the Friends of the Sterling Municipal Library in 1962 to support the city of Baytown's library. And whereas the Friends of the Library have raised for the last 75 years and continue to raise money that enables our library to evolve to meet the changing needs of the Baytown residents, providing the resources for additional programming, specialized equipment, support for summer reading programs, and special events throughout the years. And whereas the work of the Friends highlights an ongoing basis, the fact that our library is a cornerstone of the community, providing opportunities for all to engage, and the joy of lifelong learning and connect with the thoughts and ideas of others from ages past to the present and whereas a friend's gift of their time and commitment to the library sets an example for all in how volunteerism leads a positive civic engagement and the betterment of our community. Now therefore, our Charles Johnson Mayor of Baytown do hereby recognize and celebrate Friends of the Library's 75th anniversary and extend a sincere appreciation to its members past and present for their dedicated service, advocacy, and generosity in enriching the lives of Baytown residents and strengthening our community. Let's give them a round of applause. Now, anyone from, oh, okay, there you go. Let's go. If you have a library card and you serve on council, could you please come on down?

And y'all can actually stand up here. The microphone is always the spot, because that's where the light.

With the library cards, no digital.

digital cards for a while now yes I didn't get a digital car now hit me but I was all right all right big smile say books on one yes one more hang on

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

We will now go into the public hearings. The public hearings today are being held for the purpose of giving all interested persons the right to express their views regarding the subject of the public hearings. Everyone desiring The right, that everyone desiring to be a part of today's hearing should have either signed the appropriate list in the for you or emailed the city clerk prior to the posted time of this meeting. Each participant shall give his or her name and address in order to provide a proper record of the hearings. The rules allow each person three minutes to present information. However, I encourage everyone to be as brief and to the point as possible. IF YOU ARE A GROUP OF PERSONS WISHING TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL ON THE SAME SUBJECT, PLEASE SELECT A SPOKESPERSON TO PRESENT THE INFORMATION. IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE DIRECT THEM TO ME. WE ARE NOW ON 5A. CONDUCT THE FIRST PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THE PROPOSED LIMITED PURPOSE ANNEXATION THROUGH THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT FOR APPROXIMATELY 356.99 ACRES OF LAND IN THE CITY'S EXTRA extraterritorial jurisdiction generally located east of Garth and west of North Main Street and north of East Wallaceville Road. It is now 7.54 p.m. and I call to order the first public hearing concerning the limited purpose annexation for approximately 356.99 acres of land in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Martin Scribner. We could have just put ETJ there, couldn't we?

That's the lawyer, Mayor. Mr. Mayor, we try not to use too many acronyms.

We want to make sure the public understands what we're talking about. I tried, Mayor. He told me no. Okay.

All right. Thank you.

THANK YOU, MAYOR AND COUNCIL, FOR THE RECORD. MARTIN SCRIBNER, PLANNING DEVELOPMENT SERVICES. I WILL USE THE TERM ETJ TO TRY AND KEEP THIS SHORTER, BUT SO AS MAYOR REDOFF, THIS IS ROUGHLY 357 ACRES ON THE east side of Garth Road, just north of Wallaceville Road. You may remember on the west side of Garth Road this was something that was – let me step back for a second. Remember this is a limited purpose annexation. This is not a full annexation, so this area of course will not get the full services that a full annexation would get. So if you'll remember a few years back, I think this was in 2018, about 500 acres on the west side of Garth Road was annexed as part of a Friendswood development, or excuse me, a limited purpose annexation, again, that contained around 2,000 single family homes. That was subsequently built out. And then we did a SPA, excuse me, a strategic partnership agreement WITH FRIENDSWOOD, WE ADDED TO THAT IN 2018. 22, which added this 357 acres, which when built out will include around 1,200 units, not quite 1,200 units. Right now, they're at about half of that, a little over half. And this is Scott's Bend and Pelly Place. So if you drive up through there, you'll see that quite a lot of work has been done for this. So why are we doing this now? We have... Basically, this is a housekeeping item. There's some paperwork that needs to be tidied up to make sure that this moves forward the way that it is supposed to move forward. So that's what we're doing tonight. So this is the beginning of that process. Again, we have two public hearings tonight. We're going to do those back to back because we have some timing limitations. So I won't have anything to add to the second public hearing. As you can see, the area just to the south of the property in question is that yellow that is in the city. Everything in white is actually outside the city. The future land use map does show it as single-family residential. Again, because it's a limited-purpose annexation, the uses and the zoning are really determined by the Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Development Agreement. So we're not really – we're not talking too much about the use. SO TONIGHT WE'RE DOING THE PUBLIC HEARINGS. ON JULY 9TH, WE'LL HAVE THE FIRST READING OF THE ORDINANCE ITSELF, AS WELL AS AN AMENDMENT TO THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, WHICH HAS MORE TO DO WITH THE MUD SITUATION. AND THEN ON AUGUST 13TH, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THE SECOND READING AND THEN A VOTE ON THE ANNEXATION ORDINANCE ITSELF, AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT WHICH DISTRICT TO PUT THIS development into for voting purposes. And with that, that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Well, I'm going to say my apologies to the city attorney because when he said SPA, I thought SPA instead of a strategic partnership agreement. So I can understand why we don't use acronyms. Is there anyone signed up to speak? Good deal. Well, moving on, there being no one else desiring to speak, we now close that public hearing at 7.58 p.m. We are on to 5B, conduct the second public hearing regarding the proposed limited purpose annexation through a strategic partnership agreement, a.k.a. SPA, for approximately 356.99 acres of land in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, ETJ, generally located east of Garth Road and west of North Main Street and north of East Wallaceville Road. It is now 7.58 p.m. and I call to order the second public hearing concerning the limited purpose annexation for approximately 356.99 acres of land in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Mr. Scribner.

This is the same as the first one. I have nothing to add.

Good deal. Anyone else sign up to speak? Yes, sir. There being no one else desiring to speak, I now close this public hearing at 7.59 p.m. concerning the limited purpose annexation for approximately 356.99 acres of land in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Thank you, Mr. Scribner. Now we are on to 6A, consider a resolution granting the petition for the proposed annexation of approximately 0.998 acres of land at 8220 North State Highway 146. Mr. Scribner?

Thank you. This one is a full annexation. This is not the LPA. This is the full deal. This is about an acre, again, off of 140, it's on 146, south of Old Needlepoint Road, just north of Redwood Drive. THIS IS ALSO GOING THROUGH A REZONED PROCESS AS PART OF THIS PROCESS. WE'RE DOING THAT CONCURRENTLY. SO WE'LL HAVE THAT BACK IN FRONT OF YOU AS WELL. SO WE WON'T TALK MUCH ABOUT THE ZONING TONIGHT. THIS, OF COURSE, IS THE FIRST STEP. SO THIS IS BASICALLY THE CITY ACCEPTING THE APPLICATION OF THE OWNER TO BE ANNEXED INTO THE CITY. EVERYTHING AROUND IT IS KIND OF WHAT'S IN LIGHT BLUE IS INSIDE THE CITY. SO IT'S KIND OF A LITTLE NOTCH OUT OF THAT STRIP ALONG 146. EVERYTHING THAT IS IN WHITE, SO EVERYTHING TO THE EAST IS ALL IN THE ETJ, IS NOT INSIDE THE CITY. YOU CAN SEE THAT THE CURRENT ZONING, ALL THE RED IS GENERAL COMMERCIAL, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT IS GENERAL COMMERCIAL ALL ALONG 146. WHEN WE COME BACK WITH THE ZONING, THEY WILL BE LOOKING FOR SIMILAR ZONING FOR USE THAT FITS IN THAT ZONING. THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP DOES SHOW IT AS KIND OF SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL.

EXCELLENT.

AND SO THE TIMELINE THERE, AGAIN, SORRY, TONIGHT IS THE PUBLIC HEARING. WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THE FIRST READING ON JULY 9TH. I APOLOGIZE, THESE DATES DON'T LOOK RIGHT TO ME, SO I'M GOING TO STEP BACK AWAY FROM THAT SLIDE. I'M GOING TO PRETEND WE DIDN'T SEE THAT SLIDE BECAUSE I'M NOT SURE THOSE DATES ARE CORRECT. AGAIN, WE'LL HAVE THIS BACK IN FRONT OF YOU. WE WILL ALSO HAVE THE REZONE IN FRONT OF YOU AT THE SAME TIME AND WE'LL WALK THROUGH ALL OF THAT.

Sounds good. Sounds good. Questions or comments?

No. I'll make a motion we approve Item 6A.

Second. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you, Mr. Scribner. Thank you. 7A reports receive the City of Baytown single audit for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 2025.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. If you recall, when we presented the annual audit, we mentioned that we would bring the single audit back to you at a later date. This audit is related to the City's adherence to the regulatory requirements for our grants, and I'm happy to say that the City is compliant THE DETAILS ARE IN YOUR PACKET, AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? GOOD DEAL. I NEED A MOTION. I THINK WE'RE JUST RECEIVING IT. OH, WE'RE JUST RECEIVING IT. WE'RE JUST RECEIVING IT? CONSIDER IT RECEIVED. OH, CONSIDER IT RECEIVED. I'M SO SORRY. I WAS ON A ROLL TONIGHT.

YEAH, WE ARE DELIGHTED. WILL YOU RECEIVE IT?

YEAH. WE'RE ON TO CONSENT AGENDA. WE'RE GOING TO PULL ITEM 8A BECAUSE WE DO HAVE SOMEONE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK. SO I NEED A MOTION. YES. E FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES. YES, SIR. YOU SURE CAN. ANYONE ELSE?

WHAT WAS THE OTHER ONE YOU SAID? A AND E. MOTIONS TO APPROVE ITEMS 8A, I'M SORRY, 8B THROUGH J EXCLUDING A AND E.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. 8A, considering ordinance approving amendment number 19 to the interlocal agreement with Harris County Public, Harris County for Public Transportation Services in the city of Baytown. Mr. Gary.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. This ordinance would allow for the amendment to the current interlocal agreement with Harris County Public Transportation Services. This is designed to align the agreement term with our fiscal year. So what this is doing is simply taking in the months of July, August, and September and treating it as a separate extension That way, going forward, we don't have an outstanding invoice for four or so months until we get into our new fiscal year and funding cycle. So it's strictly a move to align the agreement terms with our fiscal year.

Ms. June Stansky, please state your address.

I haven't moved since last time. It's still 4601 Driftwood Drive, Baytown, Texas, 77521. As you all know, The bus situation in Baytown has been one of my issues for the past year, and I'm glad to see that we're continuing to fund the transportation, I guess, for the next three months. But I'd also like to encourage council, the mayor, planners, all the people here, that we need to go back to fully funding the bus system, not cutting it. $400,000 is a drop in the bucket when you're paying $5 million for people to put plans up for, anyway, what you guys are paying or what I'm paying for the planning of terrible complexes when your bus system could be run for $400,000 is just an atrocity. I encourage you not to cut the budget next year, to go back to full buses, increase the routes, increase the times, and make sure you can go to the morning routes so people can get to work. I mean, you're talking about people... living paycheck to paycheck, and if they can't catch public transportation in the mornings to get to their jobs, to get to park and rides and things like that, that's outrageous. Do not cut the bus budget. Thank you for paying it for three more months, but the city needs to do better.

Thank you. I need a motion. Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We are now on to item 8E. Consider a resolution authorizing an application for a scoping study through the fiscal year 2024 Flood Mitigation Assistance Program administered by the Texas Water Development Board on behalf of Fire Office of Emergency Management. Chief Dobson.

Mayor, Council, I'll take this. I actually will turn it over to Mr. Lester to give a, if you want to make a comment, I can actually give a presentation if you want me to first. Thanks, Jason.

And I was going to jump in. This, again, is just one of those good things that the city staff works hard to do. Again, we have a FEMA program that we've utilized. I've talked about it in the past. This is kind of a, my understanding is a study to help identify additional homes that and locations in this city that could qualify for those FEMA grants. So again, we hear all the time that we never listen to the public. And I have two of my colleagues here that their districts have flooding issues just like mine does. And here's the city staff working hard to find additional identification and markers and means to help our citizens reduce flooding impacts on them personally. So I just wanted to point it out. Jason's going, well, it's kind of just a survey, but it's important. It's one of those that is just what they do every day. So to them it's no big deal, but to our citizens it is a big deal. So I just wanted to point out that this is another opportunity where staff is looking out for the best interest of our constituents as a whole to find grants and programs to help get them lifted out of the floodplain areas. So again, I appreciate staff's effort. And I would make a motion to approve item 8E.

Second.

I just want to piggyback on your sense of gratitude as well because I live in a district where a lot of houses have been affected by hurricanes over the last quarter of a century. A lot of things have moved around in Lakewood and a lot of people, good people have left because their house is sitting right in the middle of a floodplain and their house is taken out. So this is probably bigger than... IT SHOULD GET THOROUGHLY RECOGNITIONED THAN A CONSENT AGENDA. SO REALLY THANK YOU TO JASON REYNOLDS AND HIS STAFF.

I'LL PASS IT ON. THANK YOU.

SO WE'VE GOT THE SECOND. WE'VE GOT THE FIRST AND THE SECOND. MOTION AND SECOND?

YES.

ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. ANY OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES. NOW WE'RE ON TO APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION OF THE CITY MANAGER APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, MR. JASON REYNOLDS.

Thank you all for allowing me the time. Before I call Jamie up here, I do need to make a statement to the council, to the citizens and to my employees. We have been through a lot over the last three and a half, four years in my time here. We have made a lot of changes. And part of those changes led to Jamie transitioning from the library to the city manager's office in a strategic service role and taking on a very big picture focus on trying to help change or look at service delivery options throughout the entire city. And she was instrumental in that. And we also made a lot of changes to the departments. And it The optics right now look like, hey, we've cut $13 to $15 million out of the budget over the last three years, and the city manager gets to add a new employee to his office. That's what the optics look like. And it's very important for me to let you know, to let the citizens know, to let my employees know that I understand that it looks like that. That's not how it is, okay? Jamie's position was moved out of the library. Those funds transferred over to administration. So it is technically a it is a position title and responsibility shift. It is. And there is a third assistant city manager added to this role. It is not more money added to the budget. It is not taking away from one department and adding to the city manager's office. I need to make that very clear. In addition to that, over this time of change in Baytown, it was council's number one priority to look at revenue growth for the city of Baytown. And it was a priority to say, how can we be more sustainable while continuing to lower our tax rate and bring in revenue that is not impacted as much by our tax rate, which means the ideas and looking at how we can grow revenue on the outside. So part of part of this transition in the city manager's office also includes Mr. Brent Gary taking a different position to focus entirely on revenue. Okay. And right now, as we've presented to you on the past, we've found different avenues that we can explore revenue with the possibility of adding 10 million extra dollars in revenue through IDA agreements over the next. unnamed years at this point. As soon as I name something, somebody will be accountable to it, so I'm not going to put a timeline on that. But that will be Mr. Gary's primary focus on collecting additional revenue so we can continue to lower our tax rates in this organization. As it looks on its face, there's already about $1.2 million that we look to add to next year's budget on the work that he's already been doing to this point. So it already appears to be paying off with that transition. Now with all that said, that large caveat out of the way, Jamie, please come up here. You, she is an amazing human. She is so, I have to be very short with that because once I start she won't want me to stop, so I have to say one nice thing and that'll be it. She is an amazing human. She facilitates our discussions. She leads professional development, not just amongst our team, but throughout the organization, throughout the community. She is hired by organizations in Baytown to facilitate leadership endeavors, to help grow teams throughout this entire community. She's been doing this in the city manager's office for roughly two years at this point, and she has made drastic changes in the organization. And I look forward to what she brings in this new role and the lead that she's going to take in growing other members of this organization. And with that, I ask council to welcome Jamie with open arms, and I can't wait to see what else she can do.

Good deal. Thank you.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have to completely agree with City Manager's words, and Brett, you've done amazing as our Assistant City Manager, and you've already proven yourself in economic development, so I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next from you. And then, Jamie, you and I go way back, and so just to see your trajectory as well has been very, very... uplifting and to see you at this role in the transition. And so I did get a call from one of my constituents who wanted to relay his congratulations to you, Mr. Augustine Loreto. She has helped the Baytown Promise Center tremendously with strategic planning and getting our focus together. And so when he saw it on the agenda, because he's out of town right now on vacation for the summer, so he just wanted to make sure that I relay his congratulations to you. He is president of the Fred Aguilar Promise Center. So I just wanted to let you know that and that you are in high regards within the community. So thank you.

Bill, anyone else?

Well deserved. You're the right person for the job. Very excited for you and our community.

I just want to congratulate you, Jamie. Up to this point, it's been a pleasure working with you, so I look forward to continuing to do that. Also got a call from a constituent, a Mr. Kevin Troller, that you may know. He wanted to congratulate you as well, so I told him I would pass that along.

Yes, sir.

I'll jump in there. I've known Jamie a long time as well. You want me to go back through some of the notes? No. Well-deserved. I look forward to it. I had the discussion with Jason at our meeting the other day, and, you know, the concept is, wow, three assistant city managers, and, you know, we're getting a little top-heavy at the top, and I would completely disagree with those comments. We're an organization approaching 1,500 employees or so. And with the diversity and the budgets that we have and all the projects that we've got going on, you look in leadership issues, they say you have the scope of three as far as direct subordinates. He's right in line with that. Again, Brent's doing a great job. Carol's done a fantastic job at ACM when he appointed her. That was another very good move. I think moving Jamie up is another very good move and look forward to continue to work with her and see what else she's got to do.

Excellent.

I guess I'll jump in here. I had a question. Is that your bodyguard next to you? I'm a little intimidated.

Don't test him.

I won't test him. I just want to say congratulations. I think the first time I met you, you don't even remember probably. I wasn't even on council. And we were kind of in the initial talks for the Landon Park project. And you were there and you were very kind and very down to earth and I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT FOR THIS CITY AND CONGRATULATIONS.

YEAH, I RECEIVED A COUPLE OF TEXT MESSAGES TODAY ABOUT THIS AGENDA ITEM AND I CALLED LAURA BECAUSE AUGUSTINE HAD TEXTED ME AND WHEN HE HEARD IT WAS YOU, NOTHING BUT GREAT THINGS TO SAY AND THE OTHER PERSON THAT TEXTED ME HAD NOTHING BUT GREAT THINGS TO SAY. And I'm going to echo everything that everyone has said up here and have nothing but great things to say. I'm not just going to, I can't remember the first time. Yes, I can. The first time I remember actually having interaction with you, we were next door and we were looking at the mural that we were going to put on the back of the library. Do you remember that? Yeah. That was a big discussion. Bigger than what it probably should have been, right, Laura? You remember that? Yeah. But it just blew my mind away at that moment in time seeing you present that and just watching you grow here in our city. And I've always wanted and encouraged promotion from within. It's something that Laura and I really talked about at extent whenever we were on council about PROMOTING FROM WITHIN, SO I'M VERY HAPPY TO SEE THIS HAPPENING TONIGHT. CONGRATULATIONS. ANITA?

JUST ONE MORE CLARIFICATION THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR hire is our city manager and so how he moves his employees that is completely at his direction and so we do the approvals but I do agree it is completely great when we can see movement within but just a clarification in terms of how that works and that We don't get a say as much in terms of, like, we want this person, that person. That is completely up to the city manager, and I am completely okay that it was an internal.

I need a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We are now on to the manager's report. And since you've already had two minutes, you only get, like, 30 seconds.

I will be very quick, Mayor and Council. All right, I'd like to recognize several team members from various departments on the following achievements. Health, Hayden Thomason with the Neighborhood Protection Division earned his code enforcement officer license with TDLR. Carl Gaines with the Mosquito Control Division earned his non-commercial political pesticide applicator license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. So, political pesticide? I guess they're spraying the dice here in a minute, so be careful. all right hey hold on congrats to hayden and and carl um sorry uh all right in public works uh david salame earned his class a water uh water operator license through tceq manny cuello was selected by his peers as bawa employee of the quarter levay duncan received multiple compliments from residents regarding his outstanding customer service and responsiveness joseph holmes Where did Kristen go? Oh, there she is. I'll say it again. I'll start over. All right. Joseph Holmes graduated from the University of Houston Certified Public Manager CPM program. I guess he wants to be a city manager. Is that what he's working towards? All right. Congrats, Joseph. And Eric Fontenot received several compliments from residents regarding his professionalism and customer service. And Joseph, chair number two is the best chair. Just stop at chair number two. All right. Public affairs. The city of Baytown is recognized as a statewide leader in public affairs. Last week at the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers Conference, the city received, as you can see, all those on the table. Third place in the state for Reynolds on the record. Tune in tomorrow to hear me get chewed out. And also good comments come from that, too. A lot of good comments come from that. THIRD PLACE FOR THE FATHERHOOD INITIATIVE, THIRD PLACE FOR THE BAYTOWN VOICE MAGAZINE, SECOND PLACE FOR THE RECENT BUDGET VIDEO, FIRST PLACE FOR THE BAYTOWN BREAKDOWN VIDEO SERIES, AND FIRST PLACE FOR THE BAYTOWN LIFE TALENT ATTRACTION CAMPAIGN. AND MAYOR AND COUNCIL, I'M GOING TO BRING YOU ALL INTO THIS CONVERSATION. SO HERE IS ONE OF THE AWARDS. AND IF YOU ALL REMEMBER AT THE LAST PIECE, THEY ALSO, WE TALKED ABOUT NATIONAL AWARDS THAT THEY WON. This is important because council wanted a study done on the brand of Baytown, the image study, if y'all remember that from like 2022, I believe it was, or 23. And y'all wanted to see what people thought of Baytown and how we can continue to change the image of Baytown and what can be done. And kudos to not just Thomas and Jason and Ryan and Shanice and Sheree and all their team that's in public affairs. But if y'all don't know, they have a group that spreads out across the organization to see how we can better communicate with all of our, not just our employees, but the community. In addition to that, they took that and said, hey, what else can we do to make a place where people want to work? And how can we create this environment here that people want to be involved in Baytown? And kudos to Thomas, Joey, and everybody that's been involved with this, creating the Baytown life. And so it was part, it was, it came out of the image study and the team took that and created something that won first place for a program that we are putting on to reimagine what Baytown is and get people to come here. And I want to take the time to recognize the work that went into that because it's pretty, it's pretty fabulous. And I just want to say thank you for all that. And I do need to say that they have a big chest beating piece here. They beat Arlington. And so Thomas is extremely proud of that. They beat Mont Bellevue. Jason Calder is extremely happy with that. New Baytown, New Baytown, I'm sorry, they beat New Baytown. And they beat League City, San Antonio, and others. So this is something that we need to recognize because the work they are doing is recognized. all right moving on uh planning and development services building inspectors alex gilmas and dallas edwards each earned their residential and commercial plumbing inspector certifications uh that's huge for anybody that try to get a plumbing certification that's a a very big deal so congrats to them martin let's make sure we don't lose them because i know that's the uh catalyst to so good stuff to them congratulations um um Juan Mancha recently took the state of Texas plumbing inspector license exam and passed on his first attempt. He now has his license in hand and is already put to work, so congrats on that as well. The department's building inspectors, permit office staff, and plan reviewers recently received a surprise visit from Colina Holmes, who stopped by to thank them for outstanding service they provide every day. It's always rewarding to receive positive feedback from our customers, and this recognition reflects the professionalism and dedication the team brings to their work. So congratulations to all of you for your hard work and commitment, and we are extremely proud for your accomplishments, and thank you for everything that you do. That's all I have, Mayor and Council.

Good deal. Now we are on to Council Member District Report from James Franco's twin in District 4.

I'll fill in for him. That's fine. There you go. Not sure I'm his twin, but okay. Real quick, I'm not going to read this whole report. Why not? Because he's not here and he should have been here. But I'll cover the highlights. So District 4 continues to see some new business development. They've got the Groves Business Park, has several buildings under inspection, Cottage Green multifamily development, construction of residential buildings, a swimming pool, and a pickleball court are nearly complete. with phase two estimated to begin before the end of the year. Baytown Veterinarian Hospital is under inspection. Maplewood Industrial, that's a climate-controlled storage warehouse, is nearing completion. Baytown Boat RV and Self Storage is going to be adding on to their facility. And then the Texas Heart Center has a remodel permit for the construction of a CT scan room, control room, and a hot lab. The I-10 and Showlander improvements, it's actually right on the border of D4 and D5. Texas Materials is awaiting city confirmation to remobilize and continue the remaining work there. Upgrades to monitoring and control equipment have been completed at lift stations, just improving system reliability, operational visibility. City crews completed electrical panel replacements on arrowhead and fryers and performed sidewalk repairs on Ironwood Drive. Visit Baytown hosted a southeast Texas area regional tourism meeting in partnership with the Baytown Historical Preservation Association and Pirates Bay Water Park. That event showcased Baytown's attractions to regional travel customers. And then the demand for softball at Wayne Gray Sports Complex remains strong. Staff has successfully scheduled league and tournament play despite significant weather challenges. The new Sunday softball league has extended its season through late July to make up for some of the weather-related cancellations, and they're already in discussions to add an additional tournament beginning in 2027. So a lot of great stuff happening in D4.

That sounded like it was everything.

I left out a few words.

Okay.

Go ahead. Yes ma'am.

Last night at Jenkins Park, we have a collegiate wood bat baseball team, the Baytown Bulkheads, and they had their season opener after three attempts due to lots of rain. It was phenomenal. Had a good time. They whooped the Cobblers 17 to 0. I think right now they've played four games, won two, lost two. So if you get a chance, Jenkins Park, there'll be, I think, two home games a week or maybe one home game a week. THROUGH THE SUMMER, AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO GET OUT THERE. IT WAS A REALLY GOOD TIME. THEY HAD MOBILE FOOD TRUCKS AND A MASCOT AND MUSIC AND LOTS OF AWESOME BAYTOWN FOLKS.

THANK YOU. WELL, NOW FOR WHAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. PEOPLE ONLY SHOW UP TO THE COUNCIL MEETING SO THEY CAN HEAR WHAT'S GOING ON AT ALBA LIBRARY, RIGHT? WRONG. I DID NOT SAY THAT. That was not the mayor. That was... Of course. Of course. Of course what?

Of course. People show up to... Yeah.

They do. So we're going to... I'm only going to do what's going on the next week. I made a deal with this young man here, and he abbreviated his, so I'm going to abbreviate mine. Okay? So... You what? We're going to start with Friday. Friday. June 12th 10am Friday Morning Book Club, 11.30am Adult Coloring, and 10am The Classics Club on Saturday. On the 15th we have 10.30am Baby Time, 2pm Tween Hot Wheels Play, the 16th 10.30am Pre-K Story Time, 6pm Teen Art Night Dinosaur Skeleton Models, The 17th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m. Bilingual Storytime and 2 p.m. Bubbles and Chalk. On the 18th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m. It's Toddler Time. On the 19th, 10.30 a.m. Tech Morning, 3D Printing, Virtual Reality, and Robotics for Beginners. The 22nd, 10.30 a.m. Baby Time, 2 p.m. Tween STEM Podcast. Airplane launch, the 23rd, 10.30 a.m. Pre-K Storytime, 6 p.m. Teen Dinosaur Trivia. On the 24th, 10.30 and 11.30 a.m. Bilingual Storytime, 2 p.m. Public Works Funding, 5 p.m. Tech Night 3D Printing and Virtual Reality. And I would like you to start off your morning on the 25th, 10.30 and 11.30 Toddler Time. 5.30 p.m., diamond dot in rings, and then tune in to the next council meeting at 6.30. Be sure you get here before we end so you can hear what's going on the rest of the month at our library. Sounds good?

Sounds great.

And if you do not have a library card, as I learned today, they are digital. You don't even have to carry it in your pocket. You can have it on your phone. So if you don't have a library card, I encourage everyone I was going to do that. I've got to save the best for last. Please get your library card. Reading is fundamental. And then last but not least, this... Saturday, we are celebrating Juneteenth in Baytown. I had the opportunity to meet the headline act, Ms. Lila James, today at the radio station, and she is super excited. The radio station is super excited to be joining us again. That was 97.9 The Box and Magic 102. I remember Magic 102 from The Quiet Storm. Y'all remember that? That's what I'm talking about. They are excited to be joining us. If you are available on Saturday at 4 p.m., the vendors are going to start selling whatever they're going to sell. The performances are going to start at 5. Piano Vibes is going to be great. Those kids are very talented. Please come out, support, have a good time. Food, family, and fun. That being said, we are going to go into executive session one more time. It is 8.32 p.m. We will recess into and convene an executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code Sections 551.071 to seek the advice of the city attorneys. I now reconvene our open meeting of the Baytown City Council at 8.55 p.m. and announce that in accordance with Section 551.102 of the Texas Government Code, no action was taken in executive session. Having exhausted all items on the agenda, I now adjourn the meeting at 8.56 p.m.

Baytown, Texas, a global industry powerhouse. It's thanks to you, the hoteliers, restaurateurs, and budding businesses, the lifeblood that keeps our community moving.

There's a big diversity of people moving to Baytown. So that's why I feel like there's a lot of opportunity, whether you're looking for posh, high-end businesses or local businesses that are more of a necessity for the population.

And it shows in the numbers. Travel supports one of every 10 jobs in Baytown. In 2023 alone, travelers spent nearly $253 million a year. That's up 6.5% from the year before. Our tourism partners help us create jobs, save our citizens tax dollars, and keep local businesses thriving. Visitors generated almost 20 million dollars in state and local funding. That's about 650 bucks in tax savings for every household in Baytown.

It's a lot of things that are starting to pick up for Baytown. We are becoming a tourist area.

money made from travel supports over 1600 jobs putting nearly 77 million dollars in the pockets of workers your vision your dedication your hard work is literally making a better baytown we rank second in the nation for having the most fortune 500 headquarters that means more money in our region to spend on local businesses and leisure business has been great here the local community takes care of us local employers come by the city's always here There's no doubt Baytown is growing with endless family fun and outdoor adventures.

Our water park is a big thing for our area and the nature center.

It's a nature lover's paradise. A prime Texas community poised for growth, ripe for development.

Come down to Texas Avenue. Come walk around and we've got a lot of really good art here with the murals we have here and the sculpture trail.

There's always something new. Anytime you talk to Jason or the mayor or some of the council members, there's always a new project coming up.

Travel and tourism are critical to Baytown's economy, so we thank you, our beacons of business, for putting our community first. Because in Baytown, Texas, travel is a powerhouse.

Pirate Bay and Baytown. Hi, I'm Laura Alvarado, and I am your Baytown City Council Member for District 1.

And I'm Sarah Graham, Councilwoman for District 2, and our community needs your help in shaping our future.

You play a vital role in helping make a difference in Baytown by joining one of our boards and commissions. Whether it's park, planning, or animal control, we've got a place for you. Join us on this journey and visit baytown.org.